Restaurants with a liquor licence are allowed to serve alcoholic beverages for dine-ins, said Federal Territory Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
When asked to clarify on the confusion about restaurants not being allowed to serve liquor, he said the problem was not the liquor but the business.
"Businesses with a restaurant licence are allowed to operate but those with an entertainment licence, such as pubs and karaoke joints are not.
"As long as the business owner with a restaurant licence abides by the Standard Operating Procedure during the conditional movement control order (MCO), they can operate as what is stipulated in their valid licences," he said at a press conference after launching Putrajaya Quran at Kompleks Nasyrul Quran in Putrajaya in conjunction with Putrajaya's silver jubilee celebration.
He also said that the ministry was working towards improving the operating conditions in all markets.
"For example, the unsanitary condition of the Kuala Lumpur wholesale market coupled with the subletting of business licence to foreigners and hiring of foreigners without permit for cheap labour are major concerns that we are trying to address now.
"There are too many foreigners and they live in cramped quarters. With strict enforcement, we now have over 1,000 locals working at the market.
"Premises that flaunt the SOP are forced to close on a daily basis. We have allowed such practices for a long time, but we must change and embrace the new norm," he said.
